Modern Unique Wedding at The Reading Terminal Market

A wedding filled with love, beautifully designed elements, and a joyous celebration that embodies the true nature of the couple is just the kind of wedding we all dream about! Taryn and Jon hands down had one of the best Philadelphia inspired weddings that we absolutely adore! These Temple University alumni, incorporated their own personal touches paired with iconic Philly elements, that all beautifully merged on this special day. All About Events coordinated their super unique wedding reception that took place at the famous locale, The Reading Terminal Market. To no surprise this entire day came out beautifully thanks to the team of amazing Philadelphia wedding vendors, who truly put together an event that will inspire anyone to have an incredible Philadelphia wedding of their own!

How They Met:

“Jon and I met during our senior year at Temple University and although we had a couple of classes together, we didn’t know each other. During the semester, I went on a spring break trip with my girlfriends, where I told my friends (who were the bridesmaids in our wedding) there was a cute boy in class that I thought I would marry one day; however, at this time we were hardly friends. Over the course of a few weeks we found ourselves spending time together with mutual friends, and Jon and I became better friends. Eventually we started dating, and here we are today: married, just like I predicted!”

The Proposal:

“In college our senior class had a formal event at Top of the Tower; its banquet rooms offer gorgeous views of the city from the top of Three Logan Square. At the time, Jon and I had just started dating, and we’ve always seen this as our “first date.” In December of 2015, Jon had made “happy hour plans” at Top of the Tower, so we headed there for the evening. I had a hunch he was going to propose that night, so I was already nervous, texting my friend that I thought it was going to happen. When we got to the top of the building and to the outdoor patio, it was so incredibly windy that we almost couldn’t stand. We turned around to walk inside, where I bumped into the photographer he had planned to take “spontaneous photos of him proposing.” Once inside, Jon proposed, and then our family and closest friends entered the room to join us. We celebrated the rest of the evening!”

Wedding Planning Experience:

“Wedding planning was relatively easy for Jon and me because of the continuous support we received from our parents, close friends, and the vendors we worked with. Jon and I have very similar taste and wanted basically the same things for our wedding, which made decision making very easy. My mom, who was just as excited as I was for the wedding planning, and a couple of my closest friends really became my sounding boards for opinions and suggestions. I used Instagram the most for inspiration by searching through hashtags, and then used Pinterest and Google Drive to organize our ideas and decisions in a more systematic way.”

Wedding Inspiration:

“We really wanted to have a Philadelphia wedding that captured who we are as people and as a pair. We’ve been in Philly for almost 10 years, so we wanted a “With love, Philadelphia” feel to the day. Our reception venue was an iconic Philly destination (The Reading Terminal Market), so we wanted our entire day to reflect the ambience of the Market. Neither of us wanted a fancier/modern/glam aesthetic, and we knew we didn’t want a banquet hall or a traditionally large open room with tables. I didn’t want to choose anything that was wedding trendy at the moment that I could potentially later regret; we wanted something more timeless and romantic. We love the URBN brand aesthetic, as our style is similar to that, so I would say that was a huge inspiration for us. Basically, we wanted to look back on our day, or look at our photos, and think “this all fits in together and reflects our personalities and the city we love.”

Best Memory:

“I have a few favorite moments! My friends and I rented a cute AirBnB on a pedestrian street in Queens Village, so we had such a great time having a big sleepover the night before the wedding and waking up to breakfast and mimosas. We blasted music all day, danced, drank, ate, reminisced, and watched as we had our hair and makeup done. It was so special to me that we were all getting ready together, and my parents, sisters, and nieces could be there as well.

Our photographer, Justin (who is AMAZING, btw), had my dad waiting outside in the alley to take photos when I finished getting ready. I didn’t want a first-look with Jon, but I wanted one with my dad. Walking outside and seeing his reaction is a moment I will truly never forget, and I cannot thank Justin enough for capturing it perfectly.

Jon and I are huge Dave Matthews Band fans, so I surprised him by having the bridal party processional walk down the aisle to the piano version of Crash Into Me. The church doors opening and my dad and I walking through as the song was playing was an indescribable moment. The aisle was short, so I was able to see Jon’s face clearly as my dad and I walked. My parents are the most important people to me, and walking with my dad is something I will always remember.

Finally, my last favorite moment (I could go on forever) is walking into Reading Terminal Market 15 minutes before the guests arrived to see the transformation. It was truly better than we could have ever dreamed. The lighting was so romantic, the flowers looked gorgeous, and the Market itself is such an incredible space. I will never forget walking in and saying to Jon, “this is better than we could have ever imagined.” Jon and I go to the Market all the time, so when you’re pushing through people to get in line for food or beating someone out for a table, it’s quite hard to imagine how it could transform into a wedding space – but it was truly unbelievably magical! A huge thank you to All About Events at Reading Terminal Market for being so amazing.”

Wedding Planning Advice:

“My advice to couples planning a wedding is to do what you want and to spend your money where you want. Couples prioritize different aspects of their weddings; therefore, if you want something, don’t let someone else tell you “it’s a waste of money… you won’t remember ‘xyz.’” I also suggest staying organized when you talk to different vendors to gauge prices and services. We had pretty comprehensive Google Sheets with many different tabs of information. For those people who are most special in your life, make sure they feel that way when you plan your wedding and make sure you express your gratitude when the day ends. Our day could not have been as incredible as it was without them. Remember the phrase: it’s all pretty irrelevant unless you enjoy the process.

To the brides, we had a team of makeup artists/hair stylists come to our BnB, which was so much more fun than going to a salon, in my opinion. I highly recommend finding traveling stylists like Diana – who was incredible (book her!).”

Wedding Vendor Experience:

“The vendors we worked with were amazing! Jon and I chose vendors based off of the vibe we got when we initially contacted them or had preliminary meetings. I found most of our vendors on Instagram, so when emailing them I didn’t want to receive generic emails back or an email that was clearly made from a template that goes to all potential clients. Our vendors never made us feel like this was “just another wedding.” We would be working with them for a few months, so I wanted to feel like our wedding was important to them as well. I found it was much better to make decisions this way, rather than letting the price dictate who we’d select. They never pushed us into something we didn’t like, I really feel like the aesthetic of each vendor fit into our overall dream for the wedding.”